Fastest Growing Sport in America?

[ehillis]

For those have heard of Pickleball, its governing organization, the USAPA, calls it the fastest growing sport in America.

A quick search for "fastest growing sport in america" yields results for lacrosse, NASCAR, mixed martial arts, and even bullriding, and that's just the first page I looked at. TONS of sports claim to be the America's fastest growing sport.

Anybody else think disc golf may be among them? (considering both raw numbers and by percentage relative to current membership probably lead to very different answers)

[Midnightbiker]

I have heard Disc Golf called the Fastest Growing Sport that nobody has ever heard of.

I try to tell people about disc golf where ever I go. I have gotten a co-worker into the sport, 3 of my neighbors, and my brother. I also have gotten the people at my local post office into the sport, because I mail alot of discs and they were asking me why I was in every week.

Try to promote the sport where ever you go.

[JR Stengele]

I just wait in anticipation till the day we see U.S win the gold for DG in the Olympics

[timg]

I'd be happy to just see it on tv :)

[sk8architecture]

The way I look at it is the same as skateboarding in the early 90's. At that point skateboarding was just starting to crawl out of a gimmick thing and into a respected revolution. There were pro's but no one was making any real money. Now look at it.
I'm with Midnightbiker I tell people about disc golf and I get weird looks. But once you get them out on a course the're hooked for life.
The trick for us here on the west coast is to keep the sport friendly and classy. I know alot of people that view disc golf as nothing more than Pot Smokers and Beer drinkers. But even those characters can be classy too.

[JConnell]

The way I look at it is the same as skateboarding in the early 90's. At that point skateboarding was just starting to crawl out of a gimmick thing and into a respected revolution. There were pro's but no one was making any real money. Now look at it.
I'm with Midnightbiker I tell people about disc golf and I get weird looks. But once you get them out on a course the're hooked for life.
The trick for us here on the west coast is to keep the sport friendly and classy. I know alot of people that view disc golf as nothing more than Pot Smokers and Beer drinkers. But even those characters can be classy too.

In my experience this can go both ways. I've brought friends out to the local rec course who were completely turned off to DG after running into some players that took the game and themselves far too seriously. I've also seen people turned away from DG because of players not taking it seriously enough. I think its important that everyone playing public parks puts things into perspective and finds a nice balance.

These are some examples of foks I've run into who give the sport a bad name:

The guy who blindly resents new players or new plastics and feels the need to tell you all about why
The guy openly smoking pot or drinking right at the tee-box when he could easily walk 15-20 feet away to privacy
The guy who acts like the course somehow belongs to him more than the next guy (usually because of how long he's played there)
The guy who immediately lashes out when he sees simple rules or "codes" being broken instead of constructively pointing out the problem and offering some insight and/or advice.

Although 99% of DG'ers I've met are nothing like these types, this 1% can easily ruin the fun and goodwill new players should always be entitled to.

[DanaHaberman]

i think one of the biggest factors holding back the spread of DG is availability of discs. Ive been to quite a few beautiful courses, only to be the only player there all day. Some of these courses dont have discs for sale for at least 50 miles.

I live in a college town and every summer there is a new huge wave of players. We only have a 9 hole and the wait time for each hole gets pretty lengthy. So at times i sit there and get impatient and wish there weren't so many players, but at the same time im amazed at the growth, and im glad.

[mike_riewer]

Give the sport some time and it will be on TV. ESPN covers table tennis, and the spelling bee, so eventually with its continued growth a tournement will be aired.

[Marv Vega]

I've been playing 5 years or so and have really seen the sport grow, when I started it seemed like the only people you'd see on the courses were mostly guys in their early to mid 20's or older guys who've been playing forever. Now, down in Florida anyway, the demagraphic seems to be changing. I see alot of seniors taking up the game as well as parents playing with their kids. Disc Golf also seems to pop up in the local news somewhere every 6 months or so, I think this helps generate interest.

[Midnightbiker]

i think one of the biggest factors holding back the spread of DG is availability of discs. Ive been to quite a few beautiful courses, only to be the only player there all day. Some of these courses don't have discs for sale for at least 50 miles.

I live in a college town and every summer there is a new huge wave of players. We only have a 9 hole and the wait time for each hole gets pretty lengthy. So at times i sit there and get impatient and wish there weren't so many players, but at the same time I'm amazed at the growth, and I'm glad.

I have to agree with you on that point. Discs can be very hard to find, and most new players are not going to buy discs online if they can't hold them in their hands. I have heard that some Walmarts carry the discs, but not enough.

Also, there need to be more courses located closer to more people. My brother lives in the Eastside of Houston, TX and most of the courses are on the North and Westside of Houston. Most of the people on his side of town have never even heard of the sport, and they would have to drive almost 20 miles to even get to a course.

Also, there is a lack of education about the sport. I have played a courses where the course has been in that park for years, and locals still come up and ask what we are doing. I wish I knew how to promote the sport more, but I guess in less we can get the local meida involed, I just don't know.

[ehillis]

I've seen discs increasingly in the sporting goods chains like Academy, Big 5, Dicks, etc. Usually each store only has one or two plastic lines though, mostly DX or Champion, but REI also sells them and only has Innova Star plastic. The next step would be having some decent selection, I hate to talk about putting the local disc trailers out of business, but if we're talking about growth more people go to big stores. More traffic on the courses would probably help the trailers anyway :).

I see a fair number of second generation disc golfers out playing, and that number should only continue to rise. Also, I have seen disc golf on TV one time. I can't remember what channel it was on, unfortunately.

[nosajeel99]

Also, I have seen disc golf on TV one time. I can't remember what channel it was on, unfortunately.

In my area (Philadelphia), we get a monthly disc golf show on the Comcast On Demand programming. I think that is rather awesome. My wife thinks I'm weird.

[Olorin]

Cups is another great frisbee game. I'm pretty sure that the number of players has grown by at least 100% in the past 2 years. I'm sure we've gone from 15 players to 30 by now. Heck, I've introduced at least 10 people to the game...

I'll try to post a file with the rules, equipment, etc to DG Resources (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/DGResources/) in the near future...

More later...

[JConnell]

I've seen discs increasingly in the sporting goods chains like Academy, Big 5, Dicks, etc.

I don't know if this is common knowledge but I saw a beginner's disc golf set at WALMART last weekend. It had a driver, mid-range, putter, mini-marker, small bag, and instructional DVD for $25 flat. I ended up buying it for my girlfriend and it got her on the course with me twice in three days.

The DVD was actually very well made for a "throw in" item, does a great job of showcasing the game, throws, and equipment to new players.

[Donovan]

In the last 2 weeks I have gotten 5 people from work out on the course and they all went out on bought discs. It is amazing how simple it is to get someone hooked if they just do it one time. TV and such is great and all, but as this sport has done up until now, we (as in network marketing) are the only way this sport will grow rapidly.

BTW, as a suggestion, this is how I got them involved. I brought some discs in to work and just set them where people would stop and ask me about it. Then after explaining it to them, I asked them if they wanted to go play and told them they could just use my discs. The rest happens naturally. I may do this for a while more. OH, and I am giving them one of the DGCR cards so they can come here to learn more. ;)

[jwsoccerking]

Donovan I do like how you take your discs to work. I have quite a few people that play at my job and some of the other employees seem to be interested in learning about DG when they hear us talking about how we played the previous weekend. I was trying to think of a way to get some more people to start playing but for some reason it never occured to me to invite them to go play when I went out playing. Maybe I will start trying that in the future.

[ERicJ]

I brought some discs in to work and just set them where people would stop and ask me about it. Then after explaining it to them, I asked them if they wanted to go play and told them they could just use my discs. The rest happens naturally. I may do this for a while more. OH, and I am giving them one of the DGCR cards so they can come here to learn more. ;)I've got a couple nice looking SuperColor discs on my desk at work that really draw some people's attention. See the one from TX States on the cover of the Player Pack (http://www.txsdgc.com/images/InfoPackTxSDGC08.pdf) and the Ice Bowl 2008 Buzzz (http://www.icebowlhq.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=43&limit=10&limitstart=10). I also have a few SuperColor minis sitting out too. The size of the minis gets people curious as well.

Also, a couple months ago I ran a small afternoon Tournament for the ~40 people in my group from work. Here's the webpage I put together with all the details:
http://home.comcast.net/~ejubin/disc_golf/disc_golf_outing_080411.html
The key to making something like that a success is having enough discs (a driver & putter) for people so they don't have to invest their own money before trying the game. Once they get hooked they'll buy their own plastic. This got a fantastic response that everyone had a good time. :D

[John Merhi]

ESPN covers table tennis, and the spelling bee

Think about the telelvision production costs involved with table tennis, spelling bees, video golf, poker, bowling, etc. One or two cameras is all you need and you never have to worry about protecting the equipment from the elements. Why do you think Poker is so popular on TV? Because it's so cheap to produce!!

Golf tournaments on TV are not cheap to produce. You need cameras everywhere and that means a big staff on site. You usually need to construct scaffolding too. The high production costs are why disc golf will only get on TV via independent producers (like Disc Golf Monthly on Comcast). Don't look for ESPN or the Golf Channel to spend the big money to produce a Disc Golf show to their standards with our current numbers. The production costs far outweigh the advertising revenue.

Disc golf could probably become bigger than bowling, and there would still be more bowling on TV because it's so cheap to produce.

[Donovan]

This got a fantastic response that everyone had a good time. :D

Eric, That is an awesome format. What a great job you did. It really looks like everyone had lots of fun. I think you desreve an award for such a great outing. Tell your bosses Donovan said so. :rolleyes:;):D:cool:

[ERicJ]

Eric, That is an awesome format. What a great job you did. It really looks like everyone had lots of fun. I think you desreve an award for such a great outing. Tell your bosses Donovan said so. :rolleyes:;):D:cool:

The format did work great. Those that felt confident throwing a disc got to play their own disc and all the brand new people playing "best shot" on a team could participate without the pressure of any one of them "bringing down" a team. One of the most difficult parts though was trying to guess peoples' skill level who'd never played before to try and make the teams as fair as possible.

In the end I did get an award (baseball cap and golf towel) for being a good organizer :D

[McMarkD]

Newbie:
My sister took me to Hudson Mills in A**2 and we played off the amature tees. This is cool! So as soon as I got back to Denver, I got on the internet, and ordered deluxe beginner grab 8 pack with a bag. But I had so much fun, I ran over to REI got a putter, a Shark (I could throw that straight) and a Valkaryie, and went over to Ken Caryl and threw at their course. My next question is, I got a sore arm... Help me learn how to snap better with a sidearm throw. Tons of words teaching about discs... Being an Aero Engineer... Stable and Understable... Those are simple... Wash-out and Wash-In on wings of airplanes! Glide and Speed... Yep I get those two also... Lift and Drag... But what is Turn and Fade? Do I put this Firebird in the closet and get it out a few months from now? Thanks for showing me the sport... I think I will come play tag with you, if anyone would just tell me what that means.

[Midnightbiker]

This should answer alot of your questions about discs and what "turn and fade" are:

http://www.adriandiscgolf.com/Default.aspx?tabid=87

[ERicJ]

Do I put this Firebird in the closet and get it out a few months from now?Yep. Start with something on the understable side of the chart (http://www.innovadiscs.com/discs/index.html). If I'd thrown a Firebird when I was starting it may have had so much fade it might boomerang right back to me. Try a Valkyrie, Sidewinder, Eagle, Cheetah, TL, etc.. As your throwing speed improves you can move over to the more overstable discs. But when first starting out stick to understable discs.

[Pastime]

Well I got introduced to Disc Golf earlier this year. My friend at work kept talking about it and finally I got interested enough to get some details and now I've gotten 4 other people into the sport.

[Midnightbiker]

Its a fun sport. Today I plan on taking my neighbors out to play. One, I got into and he loves it and the other has never played, but he plays regular Golf. He is very interested in trying it out.

[treethacker]

New to this forum. I have been playing for about a year so I am still learning as I go.
Talk about promoting the sport,I have a bumber sticker that says "I love disc golf" and I have had lots of people come up and ask me what disc golf is.
I have a question though,do you think that disc golf is the fastest growing sport or just the fastest growing fad?

[djext1]

New to this forum. I have been playing for about a year so I am still learning as I go.
Talk about promoting the sport,I have a bumber sticker that says "I love disc golf" and I have had lots of people come up and ask me what disc golf is.
I have a question though,do you think that disc golf is the fastest growing sport or just the fastest growing fad?

I think we can rule out the "fad" notion.;) It's been around for a looong time, and only increases it's numbers.

http://www.discgolfassoc.com/discgolf-news-information-resources/discgolf-park-recreation-resources/images/disgolf-course-growth-chart.png

[ERicJ]

There have been over 2000 new membership numbers issued since mine in this past February. That's over 400/month. But I'm guessing with the recent change in membership period (now Jan-Dec) that rate will fall as the year progresses and then spike up again in January.

Attached is a chart I pulled from the PDGA website (http://pdga.com/documents/2008/96-07TourGrowth.pdf) showing Membership growth from 1996-2007.

[ERicJ]

Oh yeah, and the DGCR database is up to 2669 courses as of today...

[Three Putt]

Yeah, one of the funny things about disc golf is you hear people complain al the time that we are not on TV and nobody knows about the sport. This is unintentional, as the PDGA has been working hard to get us to those levels. It's just not working.

The unintended side effect is that all of the grass roots work by local volunteers has created a very slow moving growth cycle that keeps disc golf from being labeled a fad. On the chart shown, you can clearly see the rate the sport began to grow, then the dip that happened starting in 1983 when the IFA was disband and all "Frisbee" sports took a hit. The growth then crawled along but always continued upwards at a small pace until the early 2000's when the sport resumed growing at it's original pace.

There is no "bubble," something that would have been a real possibility had the sport gotten on TV in the late 80's or 90's. That type of overexposure leads to a lot of people who really are not all that interested trying the sport and then quiting. It's a reality of life. Currently something like 25-30% of first-time PDGA members do not renew, which is a typical percent. Not everyone who tries something is going to like it. While that just shows they are no longer playing in PDGA events, you can assume that many of these people stop playing altogether. So far there have always been more than enough increase in new membership to offset this loss. When you get that mass media exposure, that percent can jump dramatically. If you subsequently loose your mass media exposure, your new members can't keep up with your losses and you loose membership. If the bubble lasts a few years, private courses would spring up to handle the demand. They would be opened in many cases by people with no attachment to the sport, just somebody looking to make a buck. When the bubble bursts, they then fail and go out of business. You then have to promote a sport with falling membership and closing facilities, which is something the PDGA has never had to face due to the slow growth of the sport.

The chart shows courses, and it is biased. Since most courses are on public land and are free, they are under no pressure to be successful. Typically the only way a course can "fail" is if it is pulled due to neighbor complaints or such. So the chart goes up even if the course is not successful.

As long as we stay with the original model of using parks and recreation facilities, we don't risk much in the way of closing courses. Some will close, but for the most part even unsuccessful courses will sit around getting little play. The parks and recreation industry is not under the kind of economic pressure to make the land profitable that a privateer will be. If we make the conversion to private pay-for-play courses, some of these invariably will fail and close and your upward chart can have a hick-up. I think play-for-pay is a logical and necessary step for disc golf, but I'd like to see more of an effort made to encourage parks and recreation departments to manage the existing facilities as pay for play. They will not be under the type of pressure a private course will be under, they will in many cases just need to make a small profit on operational costs and maintenance cost will not even be included as they would have to mow the grass anyway. Promoting disc golf courses as a profit-generating facility to your local parks and recreation department is how I would like to see the sport move forward at this point. It's not going to happen for a couple of different reasons, but that is what I'd like to see happen.

Anyway, that's a long answer but we ain't no fad.

[ERicJ]

@ Three Putt: very good insights. Reminds me a lot of the racquetball boom & bust of the 80's.

[ehillis]

I think we can rule out the "fad" notion.;) It's been around for a looong time, and only increases it's numbers.

http://www.discgolfassoc.com/discgolf-news-information-resources/discgolf-park-recreation-resources/images/disgolf-course-growth-chart.png

First off, great graph, where did this come from?

ThreePutt is right in that the graph is biased and we can't take it completely at face value, but it does excite me. As more courses are built, more people in more neihgborhoods and parks will see them or have friends and coworkers introduce the game. Therefore, the rate of growth of growth of disc golf players is exponentially related to the growth of the number of courses, even if some courses are duds.

There should also be some breakthrough point where disc golf courses will become common enough that it will be thought of as more or less mainstream. Any predictions about whether or not this may happen?

That kind of breakthrough is usually what happens in fads, but then they die just as quickly as they surfaced. The longevity of the growth in the graph would suggest that once dsic golf does break through, it won't be dying any time soon.

Fastest growing in America? Endlessly debatable. But growing strongly and sustainably? I certainly think so.

[ERicJ]

First off, great graph, where did this come from?
http://www.discgolfassoc.com/discgolf-news-information-resources/discgolf-park-recreation-resources/index.html

[Donovan]

I just hooked another...I mean I just got another person I work with into the game. ;) It is amazing how much people appreciate you letting them try out some discs and getting them to try the game out with no investment. It kind of makes you feel good all over. :eek: Bah, you know what I mean! ;) :D